Giants vs Cubs Prediction, Picks, and Odds for Tonight’s MLB Game

The Chicago Cubs have struggled to put runs on the board in recent outings, but our MLB picks have taken a close look at the matchup and see them breaking through against Jordan Hicks and the Giants.

Chris Hatfield - Contributor at Covers.com
Chris Hatfield • Betting Analyst
Jun 17, 2024 • 14:52 ET • 4 min read
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This article contains predictions for an old game!

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Cody Bellinger Chicago Cubs MLB
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After a weekend series loss for both teams, the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs will open up a three-game set on June 17.

Chicago has struggled lately, but my Giants vs. Cubs predictions anticipate the Cubbies to bounce back and pick up a win over San Fran tonight. Find out all about it in the MLB picks below.

Giants vs Cubs prediction

My best bet
Cubs moneyline (-115 at FanDuel)

My analysis
The Chicago Cubs' recent play has made this price much closer than it should be. I have Cubbies ML around -130, so there’s a significant edge against this number and one I have to take.

Jordan Hicks will take the mound for the San Francisco Giants and has managed to get by with a solid start to the season because of his elite ability to induce ground balls. He’ll come into this matchup with a rate that places him in the Top 9% of baseball in such categories. The problem today is he’s facing an offense that doesn’t hit them.

Though Chicago’s offense has been relatively poor over the last month, its ability to avoid the ground ball has remained consistent. It comes into this matchup with the third-lowest ground ball rate in the sport, and I expect that to show itself against Hicks.

Once you avoid being regularly ployed into the ground ball, you can attack the areas of issue for Hicks: barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and average exit velocity — all below league average.

Much has been made about Chicago's offense and how ineffective it has been, but it’s important to contextualize things. Though the results haven’t been shown, Chicago is still making good-quality at bats that scream out for some course correction soon. A perfect example of this? The compare and contrast between its expected slugging and wOBA. 

The Cubs come into this game ranking in the Bottom 5 of both metrics but are in the Top 10 in both expected metrics. At some point, there will be some positive regression to the mean. Today marks a great opportunity for that to occur.

Giants vs Cubs same-game parlay (SGP)

Cubs moneyline

Cody Bellinger Over 1.5 total bases

Cody Bellinger has the second-lowest ground-ball rate among Cubs players, making him an excellent bet to trouble Hicks. Outside of that, I like the pitch-mix matchup as well.

Hicks throws a lot of breaking ball stuff with the sinker quickly leading the way. This is a pitch Bellinger likes, and he’ll come into today third amongst Cubs in slugging percentage against it.

Learn how to bet a same-game parlay with these helpful tips and strategies.

Giants vs Cubs odds

Giants vs Cubs live odds

Giants vs Cubs opening odds

  • Run line: San Francisco +1.5 (-190) | Chicago -1.5 (+160)
  • Moneyline: San Francisco +110 | Chicago -130
  • Over/Under: Over 9.5 (-110) | Under 9.5 (-110)

Giants vs Cubs spread and Over/Under analysis

  • The Giants have received some early interest from bettors. Their moneyline price has moved nearly 10 cents since opening as they’ve taken many bets.
  • Things have been rough for the Cubs lately. You’re down over four units backing Chicago in the last ten games with just three wins.
  • The Giants have gone 6-4 in their last ten games, and bettors backing them are up +1.27 units.
  • The Cubs have a slight 6-4 advantage over the last 10 head-to-head meetings against the Giants. The total is an even 5-5 over that same period. 

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Giants vs Cubs trend

The Chicago Cubs have hit the team total Under in 30 of their last 46 games (+12.15 Units / 23% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Giants vs. Cubs

Giants vs Cubs game info

Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Date: Monday, 6-17-2024
First pitch: 8:05 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSBA, MARQ
Giants starting pitcher: Jordan Hicks
(4-3, 3.01 ERA)
Cubs starting pitcher: Javier Assad
(4-2, 2.81 ERA)

Giants vs Cubs latest injuries

Giants vs Cubs weather

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Chris Hatfield - Covers.com
Betting Analyst

Chris has always had a passion for three things: solving problems, sports, and writing. It’s no wonder then that he found himself attracted to the sports betting industry. You can find Chris betting every day. Whether it’s shot prop markets in Champions League Soccer qualifiers or NBA Summer League, he has no offseason. As an EV+ bettor, he especially values the insight gained through a data-driven approach.

His work has been featured on various websites such as SBNation, Rivals, Bleacher Report, and 247Sports. He has appeared on radio outlets such as ESPN 680 and The Sharp 600 podcast. You can listen to his own podcast, “What High School Did You Go To?” on Apple Podcast and Soundcloud.

Chris has carved out a niche as a college basketball originator with massive profitability success in that sport and stresses one piece of advice to sports bettors: exploit edges as broadly as possible and take advantage of them while they last. His preferred sportsbook is bet365 because of the range of markets you can find.

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